The Catcher in The Rye

Could someone please tell me about Catcher in the Rye. I'm British, and I feel that I am either an utter dullwit unable to see a shining gem in front of me, or all of American culture is completely inaccessible to me.

What I took away from this book was: A guy is intelligent but an utter slacker, he gets kicked out school. He spends a few days in New York, then he stays with his favourite teacher who may (or may not) attempt to Paedophile him.

Then he goes chats with his sister and then it ends.

So, I am left wondering what life-lessons I skimmed passed in this incredibly popular book. From what I read, if this is the Great American Novel, then the American Dream must be that one where you get chased around your bedroom by your lamp.

>>22
I understand that intellectual property laws retard this process so that a few may profit by it, and that most of that profit is realized by unscrupulous creatures who had little or nothing to do with its creation.  Creatures whose desire is not to inform or entertain, but to advance their own interests at the expense of all others.
The practice of attaching a monetary value to information confuses its true value.  It's the primitive way of an industrial society and it's greedy, materialistic people.

That's a load of bullcrap. How does a story or character being stolen benefit mankind? The simple answer is that it doesn't. Wanting to protect something from the realm of arts is a far cry from software or drug patents.
You obviously have never created anything of worth.
Join the information age, writer.
The way you address him shows that you are obviously not a writer yourself. Maybe if you were your opinion (wrong though it is) may have been more relevant to the discussion. As it stands you are just another person whining about intellectual proprty who doesn't understand where the sharing of it is applicable. It's not like there is any source code a writer is not disclosing. Wanting to profit from someobody elses creativity purely because you can't create a decent character yourself is selfish.
P.S. Big open source fan here.